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Women - Films

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Located in the Wilson 2nd Floor West Video Collection unless otherwise noted.

                    Summary
Arab diaries  / produced by Deborah Davies, Daoud Kuttab, & Ilan Ziv ; a Tamouz Media presentation.  HN766.A8 A73 2000  v. 2  Five-part documentary series about contemporary life across the Arab world, with a focus on women's stories. "[Pt. 1] Birth: the story of a Palestinian woman caught up in a cycle of pregnancies because of social pressure to produce a male child, and two other stories of babies, one in need, the other absent, in Syria and Iraq. [Pt. 2] Youth: four young women striving for independence and empowerment in Algeria, Egypt, and Lebanon. [Pt. 3] Love and marriage: the stories of people confronting obstacles to their personal relationships and happiness in Algeria and Lebanon. [Pt. 4] Work: explores the hopes and aspirations of Arab men and women as embodied in the dreams and realities of flying. [Pt. 5] Home, or Maids in my family: a Moroccan woman confronts her liberal bourgeois family and their servants about the relationship between them."--www.frif.com.
Becoming a woman in Okrika  / by Judith Gleason and Elisa Mereghetti Tesser ; produced by Kamel Film.  GN483.3 .B4 1990  Documents an extraordinary coming of age ritual in a village in the Niger Delta, Nigeria, suggesting the conflict Third World women face between traditions and the values of the modern world. The rite, called Iria, consists of elaborately painting the young women's bodies with beautiful designs ; subjecting their bodies to public scrutiny by the elder women ; methodically fattening them ; and teaching them the responsibilities of womanhood. After an elaborate celebration, they run a race pursued by young men and their leader, representing a mythological personage who is armed with sticks. By passing through this rite, the women let go of girlish fantasies and prepare for childbearing.
The cutting edge : Uganda / producer/director, Charlotte Metcalf.  HQ1233 .N674 1996  Documentary film, shot in the Kapchorway region of Uganda, looks at the success story of the REACH project in northern Uganda which replaces the dangerous practice of female genital mutilation with ceremonies for the exchange of cattle and gifts to welcome young girls into the adult community.
Eritrea, women combat prejudices  ; Kenya, entering the politicians den / A production of Common Ground Productions, The Media Peace Centre, Ubuntu Film and Television.  DT393.4 .E75 1997  Eritrea looks at changes in the county since independence, and specifically the battle between traditional and contemporary ideas about the role of women. Kenya offers an interview with Wangari Maathai about her Greenbelt movement.
Femmes aux yeux ouverts  = Women with open eyes / un film de Anne Laure Folly ; produit par Amanou Production.  HQ1788 .F45 1994  Surveys social conditions faced by women in Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal and Benin, including circumcision, forced marriage, AIDS, and economic repression. Examines grass-roots efforts toward education and improvement as Africa opens to democracy.
Finzan  / une co-production, Kora Films, ZDF, CNPC ; scénario et réalisation, Cheick Oumar Sissoko.  PN1997.A23 F535  Tells the story of two women's rebellion. Nanyuma, a young widow, refuses her brother-in-law, the village fool, when he asserts his traditional right to "inherit" her. Fili, a young girl sent from the city by her conservative father, is brutally circumcised by the village women who are scandalized that she resists the age-old custom.
Fire eyes : a film / [presented by] Persistent Productions ; written and directed by Soraya Mire.  GN484 .F57 1994  Fire eyes explores the socio-economic, psychological and medical consequences of the ancient custom of female circumcision which is performed on more than 80 million women worldwide. In this film, several women who have experienced this "rite of passage" voice varying points of view on perpetuating the practice.
From sunup= Kumekucha / Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, Inc. ; a film by Flora M'mbugu-Schelling.  DT442.5 .F7 1987  Filmed in Tanzania with an all African crew, the film documents Tanzanian women's daily lives as family providers who farm and run small businesses in order to feed their children. Shows how one group of women organized to improve their economic situation and, in interviews, women describe their relationships with their husbands and other women.
These girls are missing / a film by Shari Robertson and Michael Camerini. New York, NY : Filmakers Library, [199-?]  LC2412 .T48 1990  "... in many African countries, fewer than 20% of girls ever enter a classroom, and across the continent, only one woman in three learns to read." "These girls are missing offers small sets of stories, sharp glimpses into a few intimate relationships layered to mirror the complex reality ..."--Container.
God gave her a Mercedes Benz / SFINX Film/TV ; directed by Katia Forbert Petersen ; concept and research by Ingrid Nyström.  HD6054.4.T6 G6 1993  Documentary. Colorful markets of Africa are often dominated by strong older women, who control prices and determine who can buy their goods. These women are affectionately referred to as Mama Benz because each one has a chauffeur-driven Mercedes Benz. This film focuses on one woman who presides over the cloth market in Lomé, Togo.
Griottes of the Sahel  : female keepers of the Songhay oral tradition in Niger / a production of the Center for Instructional Design and Integrated Technologies ; produced in association with the College of the Liberal Arts, Pennsylvania State University ; WPSX-TV ; producer/writer, Thomas A. Hale ; director/editor, Marie Hornbein ; executive producer, Frank Wilson.  DT547.45.S65 G75 1991 Griottes maintain the oral tradition of the Songhay people by singing praises of people and recounting genealogy. Their music and dance are important elements of ceremonies and social events.
In my country : an international perspective on gender / Utah Valley State College.  GN479.65 .I5 1993  Respondents from thirteen different countries offer a personal perspective on life in their cultures with regard to gender. Countries represented include: Sweden, Taiwan, Mexico, Fiji, India, St. Vincent (Caribbean), Jerusalem, Lebanon, Zaire, England, China, El Salvador, and Japan.
Masai women / Granada Television International ; producer and director, Chris Curling.  DT443.3.M37 M37 1990  An ethnographic view of Masai culture and society, focusing on the preparation of young Masai girls for marriage and life in their society. Probes, through a candid interview with an older woman, the feelings of the Masai women about polygamy and their inability to own property.
Monday's girls  / BBC TV ; director, Ngozi Onwurah ; producer, Lloyd Gardner.   GN483.3 .M66 1994  A tribal chieftain's daughter who has lived in a large city for some time agrees to return to her native village for traditional pre-marital ceremonies involving body painting, public breast examination and five-weeks' confinement to "fattening rooms." Her refusal to fully participate in the ritual sparks a crisis underlining the conflict between traditional and modern African lifestyles.
The nouba of the women of Mount Chenoua  / Algerian Television ; written and directed by Assia Djebar.  PN1997.A23 N683   Story of an Algerian woman engineer who returns to Algeria after a long Western exile.
Operation fine girl  : rape used as a weapon of war in Sierra Leone / a Witness production in association with Oxygen Media ; produced and directed by Lilibet Foster.  HV6569.S5 O64 2001  Documentary about the use of sexual violence against women as a weapon in the Sierra Leone civil war.
The Preferred sex ; The desired number.  HQ766.5.N6 P74 1995  In many societies, a woman is valued according to her reproductive efficiency. Her status in family and community depends on her ability to bear children of the desired number and of the desired sex. Film investigates the condition of women in Nigeria and India through interviews with husbands, wives, clergy and family planning personnel.
Rights of passage : four stories of survival / Diane Best, Kinross Films Production ; produced and directed by Diane Best ; written by Ronald H. Blumer and Diane Best.  HQ798 .R57 1994  This documentary presents the stories of the coming of age of four girls from Nicaragua, India, Jamaica and Burkino Faso, West Africa. Purberty is too often the beginning of a life of abuse and early death in many societies.
The soul eaters  / a Witness production ; writer & producer, Stephanie Lucas.  HQ1814 .S68 2001  "The Soul Eaters examines the challenges facing women in Western Africa, who are held responsible for unexplained deaths in their communities, and are accused of engaging in witchcraft and sorcery. In Burkina Faso, a "soul eater" is typically a woman who is past child bearing age, someone who may not have children, or someone who exhibits behavior that is somehow 'socially unacceptable'. Driven from their villages, often with no place to go, these women are marginalized from society, and many are unable to ever return to their homes."--Witness website.
Warrior marks / a Hauer Rawlence Production in association with Our Daughters Have Mothers, Inc. for Channel 4 ; producer and director, Pratibha Parmar.  GN484 .W3523 1993  Documentary about female genital mutilation in Africa. Includes interviews with victims, activists against female circumcision, and circumsizers.

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